# Back from Cuba!



## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Well, we got back from Cuba last night. The weather there was beautiful, 90+ degrees every day and even hotter feeling due to the humidity. We only had one day of cloudy weather and that happened to be the day we were off on a tour so it didn't matter.

In terms of cigar shops, we went to the one in the Romeo y Julieta factory in Havana, and then in Varadero we went to the LCDH on 31st Street, the LCDH on 63rd Street, and the LCDT in the Plaza America. A few comments on each:

*Romeo y Julieta Factory:* Incredibly busy, their selection was very poor. They basically only had Cohibas, Montecristos, and RyJs. The humidor was about 2/3 empty, and they were pushing their own "sampler" packs on people. This was a very disappointing visit.

*LCDH on 31st Street, Varadero:* Not a bad selection, we were going to buy some cigars from them but their credit card machine wasn't working. Worth a visit, they had some cigars that the other shops in Varadero didn't have.

*LCDT, Plaza America, Varadero: *Again not a bad selection, they had some cigars I was looking to buy. BUT, they were all out on shelves in the main shop which is heavily air conditioned. The H.Upmann No. 2's were from 2007, if they were on the shelves that long in that air conditioning I figured they were probably dried out. The humidor was reasonably well stocked.

*LCDH on 63rd Street, Varadero: *Good selection and a lot of variety. Their humidor was fairly well stocked, nice display cases (what they had in the display cases they also had in the humidor). I was able to walk into the humidor with one of the ladies who worked there, mostly because she was looking for some boxes for me so I worked my way in there with her so I could look around. I ended up buying all of my cigars from them.

*What I came home with :mrgreen:*
So, without further delay, here's what I ended up buying:

1 x Box of 25 of H.Upmann No. 2 ($165 CUC or $183.55 USD)
1 x Box of 25 of SCDLH La Punta ($158.75 CUC or $176.59 USD)
1 x Box of 10 of Partagas Salomones ($98.50 CUC or $109.57 USD)
2 x Box of 25 of Cohiba Siglo IV ($487.50 CUC or $542.30 USD)
1 x Box of 12 of Trinidad Ingenios Edicion Limitada 2007 ($153.60 CUC or $170.86 USD)
1 x Box of 10 Montecristo Edicion Limitada 2008 (113.50 CUC or $126.26 USD)
1 x Half Box (12) of Vegas Robaina Unicos ($90.63 CUC or $100.81 USD)
1 x Half Box (12) of Partagas Presidentes ($68.13 CUC or $75.78 USD)

For a total of 156 cigars, $1,529.94 USD (if you total the above it doesn't quite work out, because my buddy and I were splitting a couple of boxes we tried to even them out on each of our bills, looks like I spent about $45 more than he did).

Pictures to follow, have to run out and pick my daughter up from school


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## SureShot81 (Oct 15, 2009)

Quite a nice haul. Glad you had an enjoyable trip.


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Okie dokie, here are some pictures.

LCDH on 63rd Street where I bought them all.


My wife with the statue in front of the LCDH on 63rd Street.


Cigars!


Cigars with one of my two humidors.


H.Upmann No 2.


San Cristobal De La Habana La Punta


Partagas Presidentes and Vegas Robaina Unicos


Partagas Salomones. These are some BIG cigars.


Trinidad Ingenios 2007 Limited Edition


Montecristo 2008 Limited Edition


Cohiba Silgo IV


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Receipt from the LCDH. I had to show this at the airport and have it stamped, they saw the cigars in the scanner. Note the USD amount on the credit card receipt ($1,529.94).


Guy rolling cigars outside of the LCDH on 63rd Street.


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## louistogie (Jun 21, 2007)

Just awesome!! Lucky you!


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## Colton1106 (Nov 13, 2009)

Wow.. Nice haul.. If you run out of room, just let me know .. Looks like it was a great trip..


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## Rookee (Aug 5, 2009)

Very nice selection you picked up, enjoy.


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## Magicseven (Oct 17, 2009)

wow great trip and awesome pics!

Thank you for sharing.


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## Trev (Nov 4, 2009)

Good show Steve. Nice pick up and glad you all made it home safely.


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## Cadillac (Feb 28, 2007)

Welcome back Steve. I know those places well. Like a 2nd home to me. The guy rolling is Alfonso. The guy with your wife is known as the Ron devil. Don't get too close to him. I've seen some people do some really "funky" things to him drunk at night.

Next time you head back (and I know you will), they have a VIP room upstairs that you can relax in, have a smoke & suck back a few Buccaneros. Calle 62 (next door) usually has live bands at night, and you can watch the Cubans dance in the streets at night.

The smokes look oily & delish. Congrats. I'm heading back in March, and I hope you left some for me!


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## Coop D (Oct 19, 2008)

Well, thanks for ruining a perfectly good pair of pants with those cigar pics!!!

I wish I lived up north so I could get a haul like that. Nice haul man!!!


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## pitbulljimmy (Aug 1, 2009)

Sounds like you had a great trip. Glad you had fun!


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## jeff_connors (Mar 20, 2009)

96Brigadier said:


> Okie dokie, here are some pictures.
> 
> LCDH on 63rd Street where I bought them all.
> 
> ...


Wanna invite me over?


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## Rubix^3 (Nov 10, 2008)

Truly Amazing Haul!


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## Tarks (Mar 3, 2009)

Sweet! Very nice selection of cigars there.


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## triad47 (Oct 27, 2009)

Holy crap. Very nice!


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## beezermcd (Jan 21, 2009)

Looks like you had a great trip...thanks for posting the pics. Awesome!


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## burnsco (Mar 26, 2009)

huge haul! very very nice.


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## fuente~fuente (May 11, 2009)

Man... That's my dream vacation right there!!! That's the mother of all hauls! :nod:

Sounds & looks like you had a great time!!!


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

Other than cigars, how did "things" look to you?
I've heard things are pretty tough down there these days.


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## tobacmon (May 17, 2007)

Those San Cristobal De La Habana La Punta you will diffidently enjoy-----


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## Frodo (Oct 1, 2009)

Fantastic Haul. Congrats!!!


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## asmartbull (Aug 16, 2009)

thanks for the pics
looks like a great vacation

Really makes me wish the Bay of Pigs worked out differently


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Hermit said:


> Other than cigars, how did "things" look to you?
> I've heard things are pretty tough down there these days.


Things didn't look all that tough to me. Last time I was there was in 1998, there wasn't much difference this time around other than the resorts that were there then are almost 12 years older now and show it, and there are a LOT more resorts out to the end of the Varadero penninsula. There were no issues with getting anything, the people were just as friendly as before, I didn't see any issues with getting gasoline, no issues with power or water that weren't there before, etc. In fact one of the tours we did which I also did in 1998 showed a lot more than the first time around. (Jeep Safari, this time around we spent a lot more time driving around Matanzas and seeing parts of the city that show how people truly live).

The only major difference was in Havana where the market was moved to a building all to its own instead of in the square, which made it feel a lot more commercialized and not as good.


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

96Brigadier said:


> Things didn't look all that tough to me.


That's good to hear.


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## SmoknTaz (Jun 18, 2008)

Awesome haul Steve, the treats look delicious. :hungry: Glad you had a great time.


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Not related to cigars per say, but since the question was asked about how tough things are in Cuba, here are some pictures.

The six of us one night by the pool bar. I'm baldy in the middle with my wife. *Note that my wife is smoking a Cohiba Siglo I. WooHoo!*

Beach in front of the resort.

Resort One

Resort Two

Downtown Havana by the Capitol Building I

Downtown Havana by the Capitol Building II

Downtown Havana by the Capitol Building III

Downtown Havana by the Capitol Building IV

Downtown Havana by the Capitol Building V

Downtown Havana by the Capitol Building VI


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

While swimming right right in front of the resort we saw these wierd long fish in the water, about a half dozen. Blue in colour, most of them about 15 inches or so long. A little later while we were swimming a bunch of smaller fish started jumping out of the water right in front of us, which at first scared the crap out of us. Next thing you know this guy appeared and caught one of the fish. He was the same long skinny blue fish that we had seen earlier only this guy was about 2.5 feet long, the fish it caught was a good 15 inches in its own right. I happened to have my Canon D10 with me which is water proof and was wearing a mask and flippers at the time so I was able to get reasonably close to snap these two pictures. When I saw how big the teeth in the mouth were though I got out of there, the mouth was about 6 inches long and the teeth were about a 3/4 of an inch long. I have no idea what kind of fish it is.


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## PJD (Aug 15, 2009)

96Brigadier said:


> rs from them.
> 
> *What I came home with :mrgreen:*
> So, without further delay, here's what I ended up buying:
> ...


Nice haul!
Just out of curiosity, how many cigars will Canadian customs allow you to bring back per trip? I'm guessing it's 100/person? Given the insane retail tobacco taxes up there the cost of the trip to Cuba probably pays for itself if you bring back a gorgeous haul like that.


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

PJD said:


> Nice haul!
> Just out of curiosity, how many cigars will Canadian customs allow you to bring back per trip? I'm guessing it's 100/person? Given the insane retail tobacco taxes up there the cost of the trip to Cuba probably pays for itself if you bring back a gorgeous haul like that.


50 cigars per person. I was able to bring back more since I had 50 under my name, 50 under my wife's name, and 50 were brought back by one of the other couples we went with (three couples, the third couple brought back 50 for me and 50 for the other couple, the two cigar smokes in the group both got 150 total). The other 6 cigars (156 purchased) I smoked while down there to make sure I wasn't over the 150 total.

In terms of tobacco taxes, if you look at how much it costs to buy those same cigars here then yes, the savings on the cigars paid for at least my portion of the trip.


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## Tarks (Mar 3, 2009)

Allowed to bring back 50 pp.


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## Tarks (Mar 3, 2009)

The fish looks like a Barracuda.


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## PJD (Aug 15, 2009)

96Brigadier said:


> 50 cigars per person.
> ----
> In terms of tobacco taxes, if you look at how much it costs to buy those same cigars here then yes, the savings on the cigars paid for at least my portion of the trip.


Nice deal doing it that way. I'm actually a dual-citizen but haven't lived in Canada since 2000, and didn't even touch cigars until this past summer so I had no idea what the limits are/were. My other vice is single malt Scotch, and I know how pissy Canada Customs is about bringing in excess quantities of liquor back from vacation, and the insane duty/tax I had to pay on one extra bottle on one occasion. I can imagine it's the same on cigars.

I was in Montreal this past summer and got a case of extreme sticker shock when I went into the LCDH on Sherbrooke St; $76 for a Siglo VI and I think about $30 for a Monte 2. I gotta wonder what that haul would cost if bought retail from an LCDH in Canada.

Even when I lived up there I never made it down to Cuba. Now, of course, I'm SOL in that department, at least for the time being.


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

PJD said:


> I was in Montreal this past summer and got a case of extreme sticker shock when I went into the LCDH on Sherbrooke St; $76 for a Siglo VI and I think about $30 for a Monte 2. I gotta wonder what that haul would cost if bought retail from an LCDH in Canada.


Well, at my local B&M a Siglo IV costs $45 per stick. I bought 50 of them in Cuba for the equivalent of $591 Canadian for a savings $1,659 on those 50 cigars alone, not to mention the other 100 I bought.

That being said, I would never buy them locally, I'd only buy them online. If I were to buy those same 50 from an online retailer here in Canada they'd cost me a little over a grand including shipping, bringing the savings down to about $400 on those 50 cigars. If I were to buy them from an online retailer outside of Canada then I could buy them for about $700 (from the one I use) for a savings of about $120, but then I'd be risking Canadian Customs (if I got caught then I'd be back up to about $1,500).

So it's all relative, I tend to compare prices to the Canadian online retailer as I won't be testing customs that way, and using them as the comparison then the savings paid for my portion of the trip. If I compare it unrealistically to buying them locally then the savings paid for both my wife and I and then some.


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## Bill Brewer (Feb 25, 2009)

Wow! Very nice haul. Those Trinidad's look good.


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## roughrider (Feb 25, 2008)

A successful trip.


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## Rodeo (May 25, 2009)

Thanks for a very entertaining thread, with great pics!


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## edogg (Jun 15, 2009)

Very nice. Pisses me off that we can't freely travel to Cuba (from the US).


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## ShortyStogie (Oct 7, 2009)

Steve, Great thread... And thanks for the pics. Of course, you've awoken the green monster of jealousy in me... dammit! 

Listen, I had heard that there was a limit as to the number of sticks you could take out of cuba... true? If so, how many is that?

-SS


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Glad you liked it, sorry about the green monster  Last post on page 2 of this thread discusses that, but in short it's 50 per person who is of legal age to purchase tobacco. Check out page 2 if you haven't though, there are more photos in there of Havana.


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## Cadillac (Feb 28, 2007)

96Brigadier said:


> Glad you liked it, sorry about the green monster  Last post on page 2 of this thread discusses that, but in short it's 50 per person who is of legal age to purchase tobacco. Check out page 2 if you haven't though, there are more photos in there of Havana.


Interesting... Nothing on my declaration from last August indicated this. It simply states what the limits are, and check the box to indicate whether you are over or not. No separate declaration for minors. If this is the case, I would have been over. Claimed 2 boxes under my 15 year old son. Have they changed the wording on the document?


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Cadillac said:


> Interesting... Nothing on my declaration from last August indicated this. It simply states what the limits are, and check the box to indicate whether you are over or not. No separate declaration for minors. If this is the case, I would have been over. Claimed 2 boxes under my 15 year old son. Have they changed the wording on the document?


It's always been that way, whether it is on the form or not (the old form used to spell it out, I can't remember about the new form). A person can only claim what is for their own use. Since your son can't legally use the tobacco he is not legally allowed to bring it into the country. It's in all of the Canadian Border Protection Services literature. When you got your passport they give you a pamphlet with what you are allowed to bring into the country under an exemption and what you're not including all of the limitations. There are far too many limitations to put on the customs declaration form that you use at the airport so they expect you to read it before leaving (not that many people do though I imagine). You didn't get caught so no big deal, but had they checked your items it would have cost you a ton of money to keep them, if they even gave you that option. Also included in their literature is if you don't declare tobacco and alcohol correctly they will confiscate ALL of it.

Long and short of it is, if you can't legally purchase or legally use it in Canada then you aren't allowed to bring it into the country.

Here are a few excerpts from the official website with limitations:

bsf5056 I Declare

*Tobacco products*

If you are 18 years of age or over, you are allowed to bring in *all* of the following amounts of tobacco into Canada free of duty and taxes within your personal exemption:


200 cigarettes;
50 cigars or cigarillos;
200 grams (7 ounces) of manufactured tobacco; *and*
200 tobacco sticks.
bsf5056 I Declare
*Alcoholic beverages*

If you meet the minimum age requirements of the province or territory where you enter Canada, you can include limited quantities of alcoholic beverages in your personal exemption. These items *must* accompany you upon your arrival.
Minimum ages for the importation of alcoholic beverages, as prescribed by provincial or territorial authorities, are as follows:


18 years for Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec; and
19 years for Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
 You are allowed to import *only one* of the following amounts of alcohol free of duty and taxes:


1.5 litres (53 imperial ounces) of wine;
1.14 litres (40 ounces) of alcohol;
a total of 1.14 litres (40 ounces) of wine and liquor; *or*
24 x 355 millilitre (12 ounce) cans or bottles (maximum of 8.5 litres) of beer or ale.

from bsf5056 I Declare*

"*Even young children and infants are entitled to a personal exemption. As a parent or guardian, you can make a declaration to the CBSA for a child *as long as the goods you are declaring are for the child's use.*"

So there you go


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## ProBe (Jan 8, 2009)

Awesome haul !!!


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## ncstogie (Oct 24, 2008)

wowo nice hail sounds like a great trip


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Great photos as I am crying here and yet slightly aroused looking at all of the tobacco goodness. I enjoyed the photos of the area around the Capital Building and all of the old cars still running around. It almost looks like pre embargo Cuba. Can I borrow your passport,,,just for one time?


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## itsme_timd (Nov 21, 2008)

I am not jealous. I am not jealous. I am not jealous.

Oh , yes I am...


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## 96Brigadier (Oct 20, 2009)

Yesterday I was on the phone with my 85 year old grand father, he was really interested in our trip too. As it turns out he was in Cuba in 1948 including to Havana, I had no idea he had been there. He had some great stories about what it was like then, basically he said it was one big party everywhere he went, lots of debauchery by the sounds of things (not really in a bad way either).

After talking to him it didn't sound like much has changed with the look of the city since then, just that it isn't the big party place like it was in its hey day with the Hollywood celebrities going there.


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## Cadillac (Feb 28, 2007)

96Brigadier said:


> It's always been that way, whether it is on the form or not (the old form used to spell it out, I can't remember about the new form). A person can only claim what is for their own use. Since your son can't legally use the tobacco he is not legally allowed to bring it into the country. It's in all of the Canadian Border Protection Services literature. When you got your passport they give you a pamphlet with what you are allowed to bring into the country under an exemption and what you're not including all of the limitations. There are far too many limitations to put on the customs declaration form that you use at the airport so they expect you to read it before leaving (not that many people do though I imagine). You didn't get caught so no big deal, but had they checked your items it would have cost you a ton of money to keep them, if they even gave you that option. Also included in their literature is if you don't declare tobacco and alcohol correctly they will confiscate ALL of it.
> 
> Long and short of it is, if you can't legally purchase or legally use it in Canada then you aren't allowed to bring it into the country.
> 
> ...


Interesting...

Oh well. I got through. :first:


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